Capital Profile: Nicholas J. Parrella

Updated 7:08 am, Monday, July 9, 2012

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Photo: Dan Little

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Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Photo: Dan Little

Image 3 of 5

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, talks about the State Legislature student intern program, in his office in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Photo: Dan Little

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Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, poses for a portrait in the Senate lobby room, in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012. (Dan Little/Special to the Times Union)

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, poses for a portrait in the Senate lobby room, in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012. (Dan Little/Special to the Times Union)

Photo: Dan Little

Image 5 of 5

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, poses for a portrait in the Senate lobby room, in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Nicholas Parrella, director of student programs at the New York State Senate, poses for a portrait in the Senate lobby room, in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 5, 2012.

Photo: Dan Little

Capital Profile: Nicholas J. Parrella

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Nicholas Parrella

Director of student programs for the state Senate

Personal: Parrella, 34, is a Rotterdam native who now lives in Schenectady. He's married to Stephanie Parrella, an elementary school teacher; they have a 3-year-old son, Lorenzo.

What he does: "It's multifaceted. One part of it is we are always trying to get students — undergraduate and graduate students — to come here and work in the Senate." There is an internship program for undergraduates and a fellowship program for graduate students.

How he got there: Parrella received his bachelor's in political science from UAlbany in 2000 and a master's in political science from Rockefeller College in 2002: "Right after I graduated in 2002, I was informed about the graduate fellow program by Joseph Zimmerman, a professor there. I was his research assistant and he let me know about the program. I applied and ended up getting accepted." After the 10-month program ended, "I was placed in the majority press office. ... I really started out doing a lot of writing: press releases, talking points and tracking the news was one of the big things I did then. They asked me to stay on after the fellowship and I ended up staying until 2008." After almost three years with the state Bar Association, he took his current post.

What are the programs like?

More Information

There is the undergraduate session assistant program. It's four months. They get here around State of the State (in January) and leave in April. Most of the students who do that program do it for credit. Then we have our graduate-level Senate fellows program. That runs from September to July of the next year. Each program is a little bit different. The undergraduate program is tailored a little bit more to academics. They basically take a semester away from school. They are placed in the office of a state senator and we try to give them the balance between the academics and the real-life experience of working in the state Senate as well. We give them projects throughout the semester.

The main one is they get to draft their own piece of legislation while they are here. Folks from legislative bill drafting (the office which helps put the bills in final form and provides legal advice) come and explain how to put a bill together. We let them do all the research and it culminates at the end of the semester. ... They get to negotiate and deliberate their bills in conference. At the end of the session we get to go in the Senate chamber for a day and we have a model legislative session.

The undergraduate program is open to juniors, seniors and exceptional sophomores who are enrolled in an accredited college in New York state. The fellowship is a little bit broader. We accept fellows from colleges and universities across the country. In this particular class, we've got (students who attended) Notre Dame, Vanderbilt Law School, Northeastern, Georgia State. It's broken down into legislative fellowships where they would be placed in the office of a senator and then we have three specialty lines: One is the journalism line; another goes to the finance committee; another goes to program and counsel. There are usually about 12 of the legislative fellowships and one in each of the others, so we usually do a total of about 15. (There are 25 to 30 in the undergraduate program). It's competitive application process.

Do you hear from participants after they finish the program?

Yes. Last year, we were contacted by a group of fellows from 1971 and 1972. They were all getting together and they wanted to do a reunion here in Albany. It was great: One is a judge out in Nevada, another one is out at Michigan State University. They were able to find their old office space.

What's the main attraction to the programs?

They give students who are really interested in a career in public service a chance to get their foot in the door and see how things work."